System and method for smart material monitoring

ABSTRACT

A system for monitoring the characteristics of a material by measuring electrical properties of a material uses a material monitoring device and a cloud database that relates electrical properties of a material to characteristics of that material. The aging and fermentation processes of wine and other alcohols can be monitored. The status and decomposition of foodstuffs can be monitored. The progress of chemical reactions in a vessel can be monitored. Water quality of water from a water conduit can be monitored. These characteristics can be indicated on a product monitoring device or can be communicated to an external computing device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/223,842, filed Dec. 18, 2018, which is acontinuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/940,052,filed Mar. 29, 2018, which is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/179,368, filed Jun. 10, 2016, which claimspriority to U.S. 62/174,918, filed Jun. 12, 2015, the entirety of whichare incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present invention relates generally to material monitoring. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to a system and method formonitoring characteristics of a material via the electrical propertiesof the material.

BACKGROUND

There are many products sold today comprising materials that havecharacteristics that change over time, have the potential to expire, ormay be contaminated. Consumers generally do not have a reliable means ofmonitoring the current status and characteristics of these productsbefore or after purchasing or delivery. One class of such products isbeverages, especially wines, which are known to change characteristicsover time. Another class of such products is foodstuffs. A commonproblem with beverage and foodstuff products is that these products mayspoil, decompose, or proceed past their ideal period for consumption,maturity point, or peak flavor point. A further class is water that canbe delivered by plumbing or water bottles. Potential problems with waterinclude contamination, which may affect taste or even health.

For beverage products and foodstuffs, some manufacturers provide anestimated “best before” date or a date on which the product wasproduced, which serves as a crude benchmark for estimating when aproduct has spoiled or passed its ideal consumption point. The typicalconsumer relying on these dates, however, must trust that the productcontained within the packaging is still in good condition uponconsumption and that it will match the characteristics advertised by themanufacturer.

Another class of materials that experiences relevant changes incharacteristics over time are chemical products. The changes may beinduced by environmental factors or they may occur spontaneously. Theymay be due to physical process changes such as evaporation or on-goingchemical reaction processes such as ion exchange or other reactions. Achemical substance may only be useful to the purchaser when it possessescharacteristics within a particular range.

Current solutions to monitoring beverages, foodstuffs, and similarmaterials typically involve invasive testing of the product ormeasurements performed on gas/vapor given off by the product. Manysolutions require that the container be opened, thus altering theproduct's state or in many cases accelerating the spoiling process.Further, solutions that reference the gas/vapor given off by the productare indirect and may have reduced accuracy or may be incapable ofmeasuring the desired characteristics.

SUMMARY

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel system andmethod for monitoring characteristics of a material which obviates ormitigates at least one disadvantage of the prior art.

Accordingly, it is desired to have a system and method for monitoring amaterial by non-invasively performing measurements on the material andtransmitting these measurement data to external computing devices forstorage, computation, monitoring, and determination of characteristicsof the material.

According to an aspect of the specification, a system for monitoringcharacteristics of a material is provided. The system includes a vesseldefining an interior for containing the material, the vessel furtherdefining an opening in communication with the interior; a stopper withan exterior end oriented away from the interior of the vessel and aninterior end oriented toward the interior of the vessel, the stopperdisposed within the opening of the vessel, the stopper comprising: asensor device situated at the interior end of the stopper, the sensordevice comprising an input electrode and an output electrode, the inputand output electrodes being configured to measure an electrical propertyof the material; a communication device configured to transmitmeasurement data corresponding to the measured electrical property ofthe material; an electrical circuit connected to the sensor device andthe communication device; a power source for powering the sensor device,communication device, and electrical circuit; and a stopper body housingthe sensor device, the communication device, and the electrical circuit,the stopper body being shaped and sized for preventing material leakagefrom the vessel; and an external computing device remote from thevessel, the external computing device configured for data communicationwith the communication device of the stopper, the external computingdevice comprising a database comprising library data relating one ormore measured electrical properties of the material to characteristicsof the material.

According to another aspect of the specification, a system formonitoring characteristics of a material is provided. The systemincludes a sensor device, the sensor device comprising an inputelectrode and an output electrode, the input and output electrodes beingconfigured to contact the material to measure at least one electricalproperty of the material; a communication device configured to transmitmeasurement data corresponding to the measured electrical properties ofthe material; an electrical circuit connected to the sensor device andthe communication device; a power source for powering the sensor device,communication device, and electrical circuit; and a body, the bodycomprising an interior end and an exterior end, the body housing thesensor device, the communication device, and the electrical circuit, thesensor device situated at the interior end of the body.

According to another aspect of the specification, a method formonitoring the characteristics of a material is provided. The methodincludes measuring an electrical property of the material using a pairof electrodes; transmitting to an external computing device remote fromthe pair of electrodes measurement data corresponding to a measuredelectrical property of the material; comparing the measurement data ofthe measured electrical property to library data at the externalcomputing device, the library data relating the electrical property ofthe material to characteristics of the material; and determining acharacteristic of the material based on the comparison of the measuredelectrical property to the library data.

Other features and advantages of the present invention are describedmore fully below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, byway of example only, with reference to the attached Figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts a schematic diagram of a system for monitoringcharacteristics of a material, according to a non-limiting embodiment;

FIG. 2 depicts a perspective view of a device for monitoringcharacteristics of a material, according to a non-limiting embodiment;

FIG. 3 depicts another perspective view of the device;

FIG. 4 depicts a functional block diagram of the device;

FIG. 5 depicts a flowchart of a method for determining a characteristicof a material, according to a non-limiting embodiment;

FIG. 6 depicts a flowchart of a method for initializing a device formonitoring characteristics of a material, according to a non-limitingembodiment; and

FIG. 7 depicts a schematic diagram of a system for monitoringcharacteristics of a material, according to a non-limiting embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention relates to a method and system for monitoringcharacteristics of a material via the electrical properties of thematerial. The system includes a material monitoring device for takingelectrical measurements of the material, and includes an external cloudcomputing device containing a database with library data which relateselectrical measurements of a material to characteristics of thatmaterial. For example, the measured electrical impedance of wine may berelated to state of the wine throughout its aging process.

The material monitoring device can be made sufficiently compact to beable to directly take measurements inside small vessels containingmaterials, such as wine bottles containing wine, or can be madesufficiently compact to be able to directly take measurements alongsmall conduits transporting a material, such as a water faucet or watermeter transporting water. Additionally, the material monitoring devicecan be made with electrodes that can be in direct contact with thematerial being monitored, improving the electrical connection with thematerial and thereby the accuracy of any electrical measurement taken,without disturbing the material by requiring the vessel to be opened forinspection. Furthermore, the material monitoring device can be made withminimal storage and processing capabilities, with storage and processingduties being handled by an external cloud computing device, allowing forefficient energy operation of the material monitoring device.

A library relating electrical measurements of materials tocharacteristics of those materials can enable a model for determiningcharacteristics of a material to be trained by machine learningtechniques. The system can contribute measurement data to the librarydata thereby training a machine learning model to recognizerelationships between electrical properties of materials andcharacteristics of those materials. For example, by the application ofmachine learning techniques, it may become recognized that the measuredelectrical impedance of wine may be related to state of the winethroughout its aging process.

FIG. 1 shows a system 100 for monitoring a material 105, according to anon-limiting embodiment of the present invention. The system 100comprises a material vessel 110 defining a material vessel opening 115,a material monitoring device 200, a wireless device 130, a network 150,and one or more computing devices 160 storing a database 170. The vessel110 contains material 105 to be monitored. The database 170 storesmeasurement data 172 and library data 174. The material monitoringdevice 200 communicates with the wireless device 130, and the wirelessdevice 130 in turn communicates with the computing device 160 via one ormore computer networks, shown as network 150, which can include awireless cellular data network, a Wi-Fi network, a local-area network, awide-area network (WAN), a Bluetooth pairing or connection, theinternet, a virtual private network (VPN), a combination of such, andsimilar.

In this description, the material 105 will be considered to be wine, andthe material vessel 110 will be considered to be a wine bottle. Wine ina wine bottle is merely one example, however, and the invention is notlimited to monitoring a particular class of materials, whether thematerial is a fluid, liquid, gas, solid, beverage, foodstuff, chemical,and the vessel is not limited to a particular class of vessel. Inaddition, other types of containers and delivery conduits instead ofvessels are contemplated, such as cartons, packages, kegs, water pipes,water bottles (e.g., office-style water coolers), to name a few.

In the present embodiment, the material monitoring device 200 comprisesa wine bottle cork which houses one or more sensors and a communicationdevice, as discussed in greater detail below. Briefly, the materialmonitoring device 200 measures electrical properties of the wine andtransmits the results, and optionally along with other ancillary data,to the wireless device 130. It is contemplated that, in otherembodiments, the system 100 includes a plurality of material monitoringdevices 200 monitoring a plurality of materials 105. An advantage ofhousing the material monitoring device 200 within a wine bottle cork isthat the wine bottle need not be opened, and thus disturbed, in order toinspect the wine for a characteristic.

The wireless device 130 is in communication with the computing device160 which stores the database 170. Measurement data is periodicallytransmitted by the material monitoring device 200 to the wireless device130, which in turn transmits the measurement data to the computingdevice 160 and is indicated as measurement data 172. The library data174 stores existing data relating one or more electrical properties of amaterial 105, in this case wine, to characteristics of the material 105.In other embodiments, the system 100 includes a plurality of wirelessdevices 130, each in communication with one or more material monitoringdevice 200.

The computing device 160 is configured to compute, correlate, orotherwise determine a characteristic of the material 105 by comparingthe measured electrical properties of the material 105 in measured data172 to library data 174. The computing device 160 can communicate anindication of this characteristic or the characteristic itself tointerested parties, such as a consumer, owner, retailer, or manufactureracross the network 150, whether through the wireless device 130 orotherwise. An indication that a characteristic has reached a thresholdcan be transmitted as an alert to the wireless device 130. In otherembodiments, the system 100 includes a plurality of computing devices160 on a cloud computing network, in communication with one or morewireless devices 130.

The material monitoring device 200 takes measurements of the material105 over lengths of time for prolonged periods of monitoring. In thepresent embodiment of monitoring the characteristics of wine, the system100 could be used to monitor whether the wine is within the optimaltaste window or outside of the optimal taste window.

In other embodiments, wine undergoing a fermentation process in a barrelis monitored via a material monitoring device 200 embedded within thebung of the barrel, or in another suitable location, for indicating thelevel of completion of the fermentation cycle. Additionally, the agingprocess of wine can be monitored, with an alert being sent to thewireless device 130 to indicate that the wine has completed its agingprocess and it is ready to ship to market. Additional characteristics ofwine that could be monitored, whether in a bottle or aging in a barrel,include sweetness of flavor, acidity, tannin, fruitiness of flavor,body, aroma, or any other suitable characteristic of wine that isusually measured. These characteristics, although not measurabledirectly, can be inferred from comparing measurement data 172 to librarydata 174, which relates electrical properties of wines to knowncharacteristics of wines.

In the present embodiment, the wireless device 130 includes a smartphone running an operating system such as, for example, Android®, iOS®,Windows® mobile, BB 10, or similar. The wireless device 130 receivesalerts and indications from the computing device 160 regardingcharacteristics of a material being monitored, thereby serving as anend-user device for monitoring a material.

In other embodiments, the wireless device 130 includes a tabletcomputer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), computer, or other machinewith communications ability within range of the material monitoringdevice 200. In these embodiments, the wireless device 130 similarlyserves as an end-user device for monitoring a material.

In still other embodiments, the wireless device 130 includes a wirelessaccess point, wireless router, or similar network device. In theseembodiments, a computing device 160 serves as an end-user device formonitoring a material. In still other embodiments, a computing device160 is in communication with a second computing device 160, the secondcomputing device 160 serving as an end-user device for monitoring amaterial.

In the present embodiment, a computing device 160 includes a computingdevice running a server application with storage, communication, andprocessing means.

A person skilled in the art upon reading this specification willappreciate that the wireless device 130 and the cloud computing device160 can each be more generally referred to as external computingdevices, and that in certain embodiments the responsibility of eachexternal computing device may be interchangeable. In the presentembodiment, measurement data 172 is transmitted from the materialmonitoring device 200, temporarily stored on the wireless device 130,and transmitted to a computing device 160 for permanent storage ondatabase 170, for computation, and for determination of a characteristicof the material with reference to library data 174. In the presentembodiment, cost, size, and energy use of the monitoring device 200 isreduced by keeping storage and computation away from the materialmonitoring device 200, and having only measurement and data transmissiontake place on the monitoring device 200, with a wireless device 130acting as an intermediary data transport device.

In other embodiments, these responsibilities can be distributedarbitrarily across the monitoring device 200, wireless device 130, andcomputing device 160. For example, the database 170 comprising librarydata 174 may be stored on a single wireless device 130, or may bedistributed across several wireless devices 130, eliminating the needfor a computing device 160. Alternatively, a material monitoring device200 or a plurality of material monitoring devices 200 may be in directcommunication with a computing device 160 or a plurality of computingdevices 160, eliminating the need for a wireless device 130.Furthermore, the person skilled in the art upon reading thisspecification will appreciate that storage, computation, correlation,and machine learning techniques can take place directly on a single or aplurality of material monitoring devices 200, on a single or pluralityof wireless devices 130, or on a single or plurality of computingdevices 160. In further embodiments, a plurality of material monitoringdevices 200 include sufficient storage and communication capability tohost a distributed database comprising library data, and sufficientprocessing capability to determine characteristics of materials andcommunicate alerts of such characteristics.

In other embodiments, materials other than wine are monitored. Forexample, it is understood that the materials 105 being monitored cancomprise fluids, liquids, gases, solids, plasmas, beverages, otheralcohols, foodstuffs, chemicals, chemicals undergoing chemicalreactions, or any other suitable material of interest for whichelectronic monitoring would be feasible. Other examples include medicalvaccine monitoring, medication monitoring, or medication authentication.Furthermore, the material vessels 110 includes wine bottles, winebarrels, bottles or barrels of other alcohols, casks, or beveragecontainers of any kind which can fit a material monitoring device 200.FIG. 2 depicts a perspective view of a material monitoring device 200viewed from its interior end, according to a non-limiting embodiment.The material monitoring device 200 comprises an interior end 202, anexterior end 204, a body 206, and a sensor device 210, furthercomprising an output electrode 212 and an input electrode 214. Withreference to the embodiment in FIG. 1, the material monitoring device200 comprises a wine bottle cork with a sensor device located at itsinterior end 202.

In the present embodiment of a system for monitoring characteristics ofwine in a wine bottle, when disposed within the opening of a winebottle, the interior end 202 of the material monitoring device 200 isoriented toward the wine, with the sensor device 210 protruding from theinterior end 202, and with output electrode 212 and input electrode 214extending into the wine contained within the wine bottle.

However, in other embodiments for monitoring wine or other liquids, theoutput electrode 212 and input electrode 214 need not extend into theliquid, but rather conducts measurements on the gas/vapor in theheadspace above the liquid to infer properties of the liquid, or is usedto directly conduct measurements on a gas contained within the vessel.

In the present embodiment of a system for monitoring characteristics ofwine in a wine bottle, the output electrode 212 is used to apply anelectrical stimulus to the wine. In turn, the input electrode 214 isused to measure the response of the material to the electrical stimulus.The output electrode 212 and input electrode 214 comprises any suitablematerial for electrical conductivity, including gold, a gold-platedmetal, platinum, a platinum-plated metal, carbon, graphite, graphene,silver, silver chloride, silicon, germanium, tin, iron, copper, orbrass, or other suitable materials.

The body 206 is sized to plug the opening 115 of the material vessel110. In the present embodiment for monitoring wine in a wine bottle, thebody 206 comprises a wine bottle cork sized to plug the opening 115 ofthe wine bottle. However, in other embodiments, the body 206 comprises abarrel bung, a cap, a lid, or an attachment embedded into the side of avessel, or any other means for housing a material monitoring device 200with a sensor device 210 in contact with the material 105 beingmonitored. The material of the body 206 comprises any material suitablefor the particular application, such as plastic, natural cork, syntheticcork, agglomerated cork, or wax for the wine bottle application.

FIG. 3 depicts a perspective view of a material monitoring device 200viewed from its exterior end 204. In the present embodiment, thematerial monitoring device 200 further comprises an exterior indicator216 located at its exterior end 204 that indicates information regardingthe status or characteristics of the material 105 being monitored.

The exterior indicator 2016 includes at least one of: a simple singlecolor light-emitting diode (LED), a multi-color LED, a moving coilgalvanometer, voltmeter or current meter, a piezoelectric transducer, aspeaker, a buzzer, a siren, a relay switch, an optical bar graph, acounter such as a numerical counter or any suitable counter, liquidcrystal display (LCD), or any other suitable indicator device thatinterfaces with the circuitry of the material monitoring device 200, asdescribed in greater detail below.

In the present embodiment of a system for monitoring characteristics ofwine in a wine bottle, the external indicator 216 comprises a threecolor LED, where the color red indicates the wine has passed its optimalpoint of consumption, the color yellow indicates the wine approachingthe end of its optimal point of consumption, and the green colourindicates that the wine is within its optimal point of consumption.

Various embodiments of the material monitoring device 200 arecontemplated. In one embodiment, the sensor device 210 includes a thirdelectrode. In such an embodiment, the three electrodes are a workingelectrode, a reference electrode, and a counter electrode, thus enablingadditional electro-analytical techniques. For example, the sensor device210 includes a three-electrode potentiostat system for measuring redoxreactions or other types of reactions.

In a further embodiment, the sensor device 210 includes only a singleelectrode. In such an embodiment, the sensor device 210 comprises nooutput electrode, but only a single input electrode for taking inputmeasurements.

In some embodiments, the sensor device 210 includes two electrodes, withone input electrode providing electrical stimulus, and one return-pathelectrode for completing the electrical connection allowing a returnelectrical signal to return from the material being monitored.

In a further embodiment, the sensor device 210 includes a plurality ofelectrodes for providing stimulus to the material being monitored and/orfor performing measurements.

In a further embodiment, the sensor device 210 includes a singleelectrode for performing measurements and/or providing a stimulus to thematerial being monitored and measuring the response on the materialbeing monitored.

In further variations of the material monitoring device 200, theexternal indicator 216 may be omitted. In this variation, the status orcharacteristics of the material 105 may be communicated to and presentedat wireless device 130 or cloud computing device 160.

FIG. 4 depicts functional blocks of the material monitoring device 200,according to a non-limiting embodiment. The material monitoring device200 comprises a sensor device 210 comprising an output electrode 212 andan input electrode 214. The material monitoring device 200 furthercomprises an exterior indicator 216, a communication device 230, powersupply 222, and circuit 220.

The communication device 230 is configured to transmit datacorresponding to measured electrical properties of the material 105 tothe wireless device 130 and/or the cloud computing device 160, as thecase may be. The communication device 230 comprises a communicationsantenna, or any other suitable communication device configurable tocommunicate directly with a wireless device 130.

The power supply 222 supplies power to the components of the materialmonitoring device 200. In the present embodiment, the power supply 222comprises a power harvesting circuit. The power harvesting circuitharvests electrical power from the communications field or by any othersuitable means. In other embodiments, the power supply 222 comprises abattery, a solar cell, or external power supply connection, such as anAC or DC connection. Although in the present embodiment the power supply222 is illustrated as being housed within the body 206 of the materialmonitoring device 200, in other embodiments it is contemplated that thepower supply could be exterior to the body 206.

The circuit 220 comprises circuitry for providing electrical connectionsbetween the sensor device 210, communication device 230, power supply222, and exterior indicator 216. In various embodiments, a portion ofthe circuit 220 forms part of the sensor device 210. Furthermore, insome embodiments, the circuit 220 includes one or more of the following:a processor, a microcontroller, a state machine, a logic gate array, anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a system-on-a-chip(SOC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or similar, capable ofexecuting, whether by software, hardware, firmware, or a combination ofsuch, a method for monitoring characteristics of a material as discussedin greater detail below. In the present embodiment, the circuit 220implements a system-on-a-chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the circuit220 includes memory, where measurement data 172 is to be stored on thematerial monitoring device 200, before, or in addition to, beingtransmitted to the wireless device 130 or cloud computing device 160.

In various embodiments, the circuit 220 is a discrete electrical circuitmade up of separate discrete electrical components. In otherembodiments, the circuit 220 includes an ASIC, an FPGA, an SOC, orcombinations thereof. Embodiments of the circuit 220 that include acombination of separate discrete electrical components and an ASIC,FPGA, and/or SOC are also contemplated. In various embodiments, portionsof the circuit 220 that describe a logical state-machine are implementedas software and/or firmware that operate on a processor ormicrocontroller. In various embodiments, the circuit 220 furtherincludes an electrode interface portion that includes circuit elementsspecific to the electrodes for performing electrical stimulation andelectrical measurements, and such circuit elements can be considered tobe part of the sensor device 210.

The material monitoring device 200 is configured to conduct electricalmeasurements of the material 105. In the present embodiment, thematerial monitoring device 200 conducts impedance spectroscopy, alsoknown as dielectric spectroscopy, for electrically stimulating thematerial 105 and performing a measurement on the material 105. It is tobe understood, however, that in other embodiments, otherelectro-analytical methodologies can be performed, such aspotentiometry, coulometry, voltammetry, square wave voltammetry,stair-case voltammetry, cyclic voltammetry, alternating currentvoltammetry, amperometry, pulsed amperometry, galvanometry, andpolarography, and other suitable electro-analytical methodologies. Invarious embodiments, several of the aforementioned methodologies areused in combination.

In other embodiments, the product monitoring device 200 comprises asensor capable of taking additional measurements, such as acceleration,position, temperature, pressure, color, light intensity, light phase,density, surface tension, viscosity, resistance, impedance, voltage,current, charge, quantity of mass, quantity and direction of force,quantum mechanical properties, or any other suitable property that canbe measured by a sensor. In yet other embodiments, the sensor includes agyroscope or magnetometer.

In other embodiments, the product monitoring device 200 comprises asensor with a digital interface designed to perform similarmeasurements, with the sensor interfacing with the circuit 220 throughmethods such as Two Wire Interface (TWI or I2C compatible), SPIinterface, Microwire, 1-Wire, Single Wire Protocol (SWP), or any othersuitable digital or analog communications methodologies.

The circuit 220 may control operations of the material monitoring device200, including initializing the circuit 220 with required startupparameters, initiating and recording measurements of the sensor device210, packetizing the measurement data 172 into data packets, controllingthe communication device 230 for the reception and transmission of data,commands, and ancillary information, any firmware or software updates,and any other suitable information being transmitted or received.

FIG. 5 depicts a flowchart of a method 300 for determining acharacteristic of a material, according to a non-limiting embodiment.The method 300 is one way in which the characteristics of a material canbe monitored. It is to be emphasized, however, that the blocks of method300 need not be performed in the exact sequence as shown. The method 300is described as performed by a system and device discussed herein, butthis is not limiting and the method can alternatively be performed byother systems and/or devices. At block 310, an electrical stimulus istransmitted by output electrode 212 into material 105.

At block 320, a stimulus response of the material 105 to the electricalstimulus is measured by the input electrode 214.

At block 330, the measurement data 172 is packetized for transmission toan external computing device. In embodiments in which the circuit 220comprises memory, the measurement data 172 is recorded on memory beforetransmission.

At block 340, measurement data 172 corresponding to a measuredelectrical property is transmitted by the communication device 230 tothe wireless device 130, which in turn transmits the measurement data172 to the computing device 160, which stores the measurement data 172on database 170.

At block 350, in the present embodiment, the measurement data 172transmitted at block 340 is contributed to the library data 174 indatabase 170. In other embodiments in which the measurement data 172 isnot contributed to the library data 174, this block is omitted.

At block 360, measurement data 172 is compared to library data 174.

At block 370, a characteristic of the material 105 is determined basedon the comparison of measurement data 172 to library data 174.

By application of method 300, a characteristic of a material 105 beingmonitored is determined with reference to the electrical properties ofthe material 105 and the library data 174. These characteristics,although not measurable directly, are inferred from comparingmeasurement data 172 to library data 174, which relates electricalproperties of a material to known characteristics of materials.Furthermore, by application of method 300, a library relating electricalproperty data to material characteristic data is developed.

In various embodiments, machine learning techniques are applied. In onesuch embodiment, a neural network algorithm that employs a Bayesianalgorithm and a decision tree analysis to classify the measurement data172 and report the classified result in order to classify thecharacteristics of the material 105.

In another embodiment, canonical correlation is used on the measurementdata 172 to report on the status of the material 105, including, in thecase of monitoring the characteristics of wine, whether the wine iswithin the wine's optimal taste window or approaching its expiry point,and an estimate of how much time may be left before the wine is expectedto reach its expiry point.

In another embodiment, a polynomial regression is used on themeasurement data 172 to report on the status of the material 105 andalso classify its characteristics.

In another embodiment, principal component analysis (PCA) is used on themeasurement data 172 to report on the status of the material 105 andalso classify its characteristics.

In another embodiment, principal component regression (PCR) is used onthe measurement data 172 to report on the status of the material 105 andalso classify its characteristics.

In other embodiments, other suitable data analysis techniques may beused, such as clustering analysis, correlation, neural network machinelearning algorithms, support vector machine algorithms, random forestalgorithms, or other appropriate algorithms.

In some embodiments, the material monitoring device 200 conductsmeasurements at regular intervals, as some applications require a delaytime in order to perform a suitable measurement. In one such embodiment,the wireless device 130 sends instructions to material monitoring device200 to conduct a measurement at an interval. In another such embodiment,the computing device 160 sends instructions to material monitoringdevice 200 to conduct a measurement at an interval.

In various embodiments where the material monitoring device 200comprises a single electrode, blocks 310 and 320 are replaced with ablock at which a measurement is taken. In various embodiments, where thematerial monitoring device 200 comprises one or more electrodes,modifications may be made to the method 300 by the person skilled in theart upon reading this specification as would be appropriate to conduct adesired measurement.

FIG. 6 depicts a flowchart of a method 400 for initializing a materialmonitoring device 200, according to a non-limiting embodiment. Themethod 400 is one way in which the characteristics of a material can bemonitored. It is to be emphasized, however, that the blocks of method400 need not be performed in the exact sequence as shown. The method 400is described as performed by a system and device discussed herein, butthis is not limiting and the method can alternatively be performed byother systems and/or devices.

In the present embodiment, the material monitoring device 200 remains inan idle state with low energy consumption between conductingmeasurements. When instructed to conduct a measurement, the materialmonitoring device 200 undergoes a process of initialization to prepareto conduct a measurement. Upon concluding conducting a measurement, thematerial monitoring device 200 returns to an idle state.

At block 410, an instruction to conduct a measurement is received by thecommunication device 230 from an external computing device such as thewireless device 130 or computing device 160.

At block 420, it is determined whether the material monitoring device200 has sufficient electrical power to conduct a measurement. Ifsufficient power is present, block 430 is executed. If sufficient poweris not present, block 460 is executed. Whether sufficient electricalpower is present may be determined by whether a suitable electricalconnection is established with an outside power source, whethersufficient battery power is remaining, or whether the energy harvestingcircuit has harvested sufficient power for operation.

At block 430, circuit parameters are initialized. For example,initialization includes initializing one or more parameters such as:processor or system clock frequency, analog circuit gain, analog circuitdrive strength, analog circuit termination impedance, stimulationvalues, delay values, filter settings, and any other suitableprogrammable setting in the device. The aforementioned list ofparameters is non-limiting and other parameters are contemplated.

At block 440, a measurement is conducted and compared to determine acharacteristic of a material, as described with respect to method 300 inFIG. 5 above.

At block 445, it is determined whether sensor regeneration is required.If sensor regeneration is required, block 450 is executed. If sensorregeneration is not required, block 460 is executed. Some sensors 210require a special regeneration cycle, and others do not, as will beapparent to the person skilled in the art upon reading thisspecification. For example, a three-electrode potentiostat measurementsystem that uses very sensitive electrodes may require a regenerationcycle to free ions from the electrode that may collect on the electrodeduring the measurement cycle.

At block 460, the material monitoring device 200 is in an idle statewith low energy consumption. In the present embodiment where the powersupply 222 is a power harvesting circuit, the material monitoring device200 waits until sufficient power is harvested for a measurement to beconducted.

It will be understood by the person skilled in the art upon reading thisspecification that it is possible to add or omit blocks as necessary toexecute any given measurement algorithm.

In another application of the invention, FIG. 7 depicts a schematicdiagram of a system 700 for monitoring characteristics of a material,according to a non-limiting embodiment. In system 700, a material 105traveling in direction 102 passing through a conduit 710 is monitored bya material monitoring device 200 attachable to the conduit 710. Thesystem 700 comprises other elements of system 100, including a wirelessdevice 130, a network 150, a database 170, measurement data 172 andlibrary data 174, and the above description may be referenced.

In the present embodiment, the material being monitored comprises tapwater passing through a water conduit such as a water pipe or a waterfaucet. The material monitoring device 200 is located at the conduitopening 715 of the water pipe or water faucet.

In other embodiments, the material 105 includes beer, liquor, anotherbeverage, a chemical, or any other fluid. In such embodiments, theconduit 710 comprises piping, tubing, hose, spout, or any other conduitsuitable to transport the fluid.

In still other embodiments, the material 105 includes a solid foodstuffthat is capable of flow through a conduit and is susceptible toelectrical measurements from an electrode, such as, for example,granulated sugar. In such embodiments, the conduit 710 uses flowing airor gas, a conveyer, trough, or any other mechanism suitable to transportthe solid. Another example of a solid or semi-solid foodstuff is tomatopaste. Such a foodstuff may flow through a conduit and may be forced orextruded through a pair of electrodes that perform one or more of theelectrical measurements described herein.

In some embodiments, the power supply 222 comprises a kinetic energyharvesting circuit capable of harvesting energy from the motion of thematerial 105.

It should be apparent from the above that characteristics of a materialcan be monitored via the electrical properties of the material by alow-power, compact, material monitoring device capable of direct yetnon-invasive contact with a material, locatable within a vessel orconduit, in communication with a library of data for determining acharacteristic of a material using an evolving model based on machinelearning techniques. The scope of the claims should not be limited bythe embodiments set forth in the above examples, but should be given thebroadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.

What is claimed is:
 1. A communications device for monitoring acharacteristic of a material, the communications device comprising: asensor device, the sensor device comprising at least one electrode toprovide an electrical stimulus to a material and to measure at least onesignal responsive to the electrical stimulus and relating to anelectrical property of the material; an integrated circuit electricallyconnected to the sensor device, the integrated circuit to communicatemeasurement data related to the at least one signal to a processor via anetwork, wherein the processor is configured to apply machine learningfor determining a not directly measurable characteristic of the materialbased on the measurement data received from the integrated circuit, themachine learning applied via a machine learning model trained withlibrary data to recognize the not directly measurable characteristic ofthe material, the library data relating previously measured signalsrelating to the electrical property of the material to known notdirectly measurable characteristics of the material; a power source topower the sensor device and the integrated circuit; and a bodycontaining the sensor device, and the integrated circuit, the bodypositionable with respect to the material to position the at least oneelectrode of the sensor device to interact with the material.
 2. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein the body is attachable to a material conduitfor transporting the material, the at least one electrode of the sensordevice extending into an interior of the material conduit.
 3. The deviceof claim 1, wherein the body comprises a stopper configured to plug anopening of a vessel, the vessel defining an interior for containing thematerial, the at least one electrode of the sensor device extending intoan interior of the vessel.
 4. The device of claim 3, wherein the vesselcomprises a wine bottle, the material comprises wine, and the stoppercomprises a wine bottle cork.
 5. The device of claim 1, wherein thepower source is selected from a group consisting of: a power harvestingcircuit, a battery, a solar cell, and an alternating current electricalpower adapter.
 6. The device of claim 1, wherein one or more of thesensor device and the processor are configured to perform an analyticalmethodology selected from a group consisting of: potentiometry,coulometry, voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy, square wavevoltammetry, stair-case voltammetry, cyclic voltammetry, alternatingcurrent voltammetry, amperometry, pulsed amperometry, galvanometry, andpolarography.
 7. The device of claim 1, wherein the material comprises afluid.
 8. The device of claim 1, wherein the material comprises aliquid.
 9. The device of claim 1, wherein the material comprises a gas.10. The device of claim 1, wherein the material comprises a vapor. 11.The device of claim 1, wherein the material comprises a plasma.
 12. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein the material comprises a solid.
 13. The useof the device of claim 1 for chemical monitoring, vaccine monitoring,medication monitoring, medication authentication, wine monitoring,foodstuffs monitoring, water monitoring, and the monitoring of chemicalsundergoing a chemical reaction.
 14. A non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium comprising instructions that when executed cause aprocessor of a computing device to: apply machine learning to determinea not directly measurable characteristic of a material based on at leastone signal relating to an electrical property of the material; whereinthe at least one signal relating to the electrical property of thematerial is measured by at least one electrode in response to anelectrical stimulus provided by the at least one electrode; wherein dataof the at least one signal is transmitted to the processor via a networkfrom an integrated circuit connected to the at least one electrode andhoused within the same body as the at least one electrode; and whereinthe machine learning is applied via a machine learning model trainedwith library data to recognize the not directly measurablecharacteristic of the material, the library data relating previouslymeasured signals relating to the electrical property of the material toknown not directly measurable characteristics of the material.
 15. Theuse of the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 14for chemical monitoring, vaccine monitoring, medication monitoring,medication authentication, wine monitoring, foodstuffs monitoring, watermonitoring, and the monitoring of chemicals undergoing a chemicalreaction.
 16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium ofclaim 14, wherein the at least one electrode is configured to interactwith the material.
 17. A communications system for monitoring acharacteristic of a material, the communications system comprising: acommunications device comprising: a sensor device, the sensor devicecomprising at least one electrode to provide an electrical stimulus to amaterial and to measure at least one signal responsive to the electricalstimulus and relating to an electrical property of the material; anintegrated circuit electrically connected to the sensor device, theintegrated circuit to communicate measurement data related to the atleast one signal via a network; a power source to power the sensordevice and the integrated circuit; and a body containing the sensordevice, and the integrated circuit, the body positionable with respectto the material to position the at least one electrode of the sensordevice to interact with the material; and a processor to communicatewith the communications device via the network, the processor configuredto apply machine learning for determining a not directly measurablecharacteristic of the material based on the measurement data receivedfrom the integrated circuit, the machine learning applied via a machinelearning model trained with library data to recognize the not directlymeasurable characteristic of the material, the library data relatingpreviously measured signals relating to the electrical property of thematerial to known not directly measurable characteristics of thematerial.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the processor comprises anexternal computing device remote from the sensor device, the externalcomputing device configured for data communication with thecommunication device, the external computing device comprising adatabase comprising library data relating one or more signals relatingto electrical properties of the material to characteristics of thematerial.
 19. The system of claim 17, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to contribute the at least one signal relating to anelectrical property of the material and the determined not directlymeasurable characteristic of the material to the database.